By Adunke Olatunji
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill; a British statesman, writer and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led the country to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955 once said;
“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.”
In a similar vein, W. Clement Stone; an American author said, “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.”
Everyone’s life is driven by something.
Most dictionaries defined the verb “drive” as “to guide, to control, or to direct.” Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?
Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief.
What Drives Your Life? There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. Here are five common ones:
Many people are driven by guilt– They spend their entire lived running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. For example, in the Bible, when a man named Cain killed his brother, his guilt disconnected him from feeling God’s presence, and God said, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth”. That describes most people today- wandering through life without a purpose.
We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. God’s purpose is never limited by your past. He turned a murderer names Moses into a compassionate leader, and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start.
Many people are driven by resentment
They hold on to their hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resentment-driven people”clam up” and internalize their anger while others “blow up” and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful. Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your past, perpetuating the pain.
Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with bitterness. For your own sake, earn from it , and then let it go. God’s word says, “To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.”
Many people are driven by fear
These fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, an unrealistic expectation, growing up in a high -control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they’re afraid to venture out. Instead,they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you far from becoming what God intends for you to be. The only way to defeat dear is to move against it with spiritual weapon of faith and love.
Many people are driven by materialism.
Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always get more is based on the misconception that having more will make me more happy, more important, and more secure but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness.
Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want a newer, bigger, better version.
It’s also a myth that if I get more, I will be more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same Your value is not determined by your valuables. God says the most valued things in life are not things!
The most common myth about money is that having more will make me more secure. It won’t. Wealth can be list instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you-your relationship with God
Many people are driven by the need for approval.
They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval f unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think.
Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it. I don’t know all the keys to success , but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of other is a guaranteed way to miss God’s purposes for your life. It’s written in the holy book that “No one can serve two masters.”
There are other forces that can drive your life , but they all lead to the same dead end: unusual potential, unnecessary stress, and unfulfilled life.
That’s why nothing matters more than knowing God’s purpose for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing it- not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning , activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose , life is trivial ,petty, and pointless.
Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. We were made to have meaning. This is why people try dubious methods like astrology or psychics, to discover it. When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without meaning, nothing is bearable.
Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose ,life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance of hope. The greatest tragedy is not death but life without purpose.
A young man in his twenties wrote, “I feel like a failure because I’m struggling to become something, and I don’t even know what it is. All I know how to do is to get by. Someday, if I discover my purpose, I’ll feel I’m beginning to live “
Hope is essential to your life as sir and water. You need hope to cope. Hope comes from having a purpose.
If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in your life as you begin to live it on purpose. You may feel you are facing an impossible situation, but God says….He’s able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—-infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Knowing your purpose also simplifies your life. It defines what you do and what you don’t do. Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren’t. You simply ask, “Does this activity help me fulfill one of God’s purposes for my life?”
Without a clear purpose , you have no foundation on which to base decisions, allocate your time , and use your resources. You will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and your mood at that moment.
People who don’t know their purpose try to do too much- and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict.
It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God’s will. If you can’t get it all done, it means you’re trying to do more than God intended for you to do, or possibly, that you’re wasting your time in some way. Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule. It leads to peace of mind: God give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and out their trust in Him.
Knowing your purpose focuses your life, it concentrates your effort and energy on what’s important. You become effective by being selective.
It’s human nature to get distracted by minor issues. We play Trivial Pursuit with our lives. Most people live lives of “quiet desperation,” but today a better description is “aimless distraction.” Many people are like gyroscopes, spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere.
Without a clear purpose you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, mosques,or other externals- hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart.
You think, Maybe this time it will be different, but it doesn’t solve your real problem – a lack of focus and purpose.
The power of focusing can be seen in light. Different light has little power or impact, but you can concentrate its energy by focusing it. With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can be focused to set grass or paper on fire. When light is focused even more as a lesser beam, it can cut through steel.
There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose. The men and women who have made the greatest difference in history were the most focused.
If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling, Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only what matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point? *Let’s keep focus on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.
Knowing your purpose too energizes your life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing motivates like a clear purpose. On the other hand, passion dissipates when you lack a purpose. Just getting out of bed becomes a major chore. It is usually meaningless work, not overwork, that wears us down , saps our strength, and robb’s our joy.
Olatunji is President, Tabitha New Life Foundation